Community

Carrotmob makes it into parliament

Member for Fraser Andrew Leigh is becoming a prolific speech giver in Parliament (possibly speaking to empty chambers, or even committee rooms, but I haven’t checked). Today he’s blogged yesterday’s to the Parliament where the carrotmob got a run.

Speaking of markets, I want to use this opportunity to commend the organiser of Canberra’s first ‘Carrotmob’. Modelled as the environmental equivalent of a flash mob, Carrotmobs attract extra shoppers in return for the store owner’s commitment to spend the extra revenue on improved energy efficiency. I commend Ren Webb and the other Carrotmob organisers who helped Ainslie IGA manager Manuel Xyrakis accumulate an extra $12,000 to spend on reducing his store’s carbon footprint.

Is there anything more inner north than a flashmob at the Ainslie shops to encourage the IGA owner to get more green, followed by a speech in Parliament? I think not.

He’s got to be kidding. Typical of a useless geek straight out of university in an ultra safe seat. Meanwhile real Australians beyond the borders of the ACT are becoming increasingly resentful at these juvenile antics and just want the Labor/Green BS (and the escalating prices we are paying for electricity and groceries due to this greenie crap) to stop.

What is a real Australian?

John, you’re way out of line. I came to Canberra 25 years ago from another country. Almost everyone I met here was from somewhere else – Qld, Vic, SA, country NSW, as well as many from overseas.

Canberra is a pot pourri of people from all sorts of places, backgrounds, cultures. It’s as representative of the real Australia as it is possible to find, in my experience.

John, I’m going to assume you consider yourself to be a “real australian”. So, to me it appears to be a “real australian” I should be –
Judgemental – Judge the actions and comments of others, and decide if they are “real australians”
Traditional – Accept the world view of the previous “real australians”, and not progress at all
Superior – Have a low opinion of those previously judged as not “real australians”
Exclusive – Belong to the “real australians” club, and carefully vetting others who may wish to join
Scared – To step out of their “real australians” box, and continually warn others not to deviate
Winger – Carry on about people who have been judged not “real australians” ruining the country

lol! +1

You might also say that the “real Australians” are indigenous Australians. Who are not in the majority in the Western suburbs or the mining towns.

He’s got to be kidding. Typical of a useless geek straight out of university in an ultra safe seat. Meanwhile real Australians beyond the borders of the ACT are becoming increasingly resentful at these juvenile antics and just want the Labor/Green BS (and the escalating prices we are paying for electricity and groceries due to this greenie crap) to stop.

What is a real Australian?

It’s alluding to the fact that life in Canberra can be quite dissimilar to how the majority of Australians live.

My question stands.

A real Australian is someone who lives beyond the borders of the ACT, in the western suburbs, on the land, in the mining towns, in fact almost everybody in Australia.

You people can post as many greenie-loving posts to RiotACT as you like, you can sneer about “shock jocks” and write your letters to The Canberra Times and ridicule people like me. The fact is we are the overwhelming majority in this country. It isn’t about to change at any time soon. You’d better get used to it because we are not happy campers at the moment.

John, I’m going to assume you consider yourself to be a “real australian”. So, to me it appears to be a “real australian” I should be –
Judgemental – Judge the actions and comments of others, and decide if they are “real australians”
Traditional – Accept the world view of the previous “real australians”, and not progress at all
Superior – Have a low opinion of those previously judged as not “real australians”
Exclusive – Belong to the “real australians” club, and carefully vetting others who may wish to join
Scared – To step out of their “real australians” box, and continually warn others not to deviate
Winger – Carry on about people who have been judged not “real australians” ruining the country

A real Australian is someone who lives beyond the borders of the ACT, in the western suburbs, on the land, in the mining towns, in fact almost everybody in Australia.

There’s a massive gap between your from ‘beyond the borders of the ACT’ and ‘Western suburbs, on the land, in the mining towns’! It reminds me of those categorisation excercises we had to do where you had to draw overlapping circles of groupings (it’s called a Venn diagram I just discovered). You have one massive category of non-ACT people there and a very tiny overlap with the other little categories.

If there is someone who is disrespectful of the “real Australian”, it would have to be you.

But I think the phrase you were really looking for was “the stereotypical Australian”.

Wow John, I commend you on your ability to dismiss out of hand a highly educated, incredibly intelligent individual and his contribution to the Parliament on behalf of the people of Fraser. Andrew Leigh is hardly “straight out of university” unless you count working at one as being the same as studying at one, he is a respected economist and probably has a better understanding of the issues (from both a political and economic perspective) than the vast majority of the public.

As for escalating prices in the electricity sector, the “greenie crap” you refer to is making up but a small portion of the increases. Most of it has to do with the fact that the transmission infrastructure we have is old and needs replacing, something which doesn’t come cheap.

A real Australian is someone who lives beyond the borders of the ACT, in the western suburbs, on the land, in the mining towns, in fact almost everybody in Australia.

I sincerely hope you are kidding, or at least have no influence at all in public policy.

So, my friends on $100k+ in the mining camps FIFO to Perth (as a couple they make a $200k+ household), and my friends with four kids in Western Sydney (sub-$67k household) are both more Australian then I am in Canberra. And all apparently because I get middle class welfare from the government? Or is it ’cause my fancy book learn’in taught me about global warming?

He’s got to be kidding. Typical of a useless geek straight out of university in an ultra safe seat. Meanwhile real Australians beyond the borders of the ACT are becoming increasingly resentful at these juvenile antics and just want the Labor/Green BS (and the escalating prices we are paying for electricity and groceries due to this greenie crap) to stop.

What is a real Australian?

It’s alluding to the fact that life in Canberra can be quite dissimilar to how the majority of Australians live.

My question stands.

A real Australian is someone who lives beyond the borders of the ACT, in the western suburbs, on the land, in the mining towns, in fact almost everybody in Australia.

You people can post as many greenie-loving posts to RiotACT as you like, you can sneer about “shock jocks” and write your letters to The Canberra Times and ridicule people like me. The fact is we are the overwhelming majority in this country. It isn’t about to change at any time soon. You’d better get used to it because we are not happy campers at the moment.

He’s got to be kidding. Typical of a useless geek straight out of university in an ultra safe seat. Meanwhile real Australians beyond the borders of the ACT are becoming increasingly resentful at these juvenile antics and just want the Labor/Green BS (and the escalating prices we are paying for electricity and groceries due to this greenie crap) to stop.

What is a real Australian?

It’s alluding to the fact that life in Canberra can be quite dissimilar to how the majority of Australians live.

I’ve lived in the ACT and three other states (and two other countries) and I think that Canberra is not significantly different from the other “real Australians”. Or at least not from those that live in cities or large towns, and that makes up something like 90% of the population.

I don’t know what peoples problems with this greenie crap is. I guess I just don’t listen to enough John Laws and Alan Jones to have all the facts.

He’s got to be kidding. Typical of a useless geek straight out of university in an ultra safe seat. Meanwhile real Australians beyond the borders of the ACT are becoming increasingly resentful at these juvenile antics and just want the Labor/Green BS (and the escalating prices we are paying for electricity and groceries due to this greenie crap) to stop.

What is a real Australian?

It’s alluding to the fact that life in Canberra can be quite dissimilar to how the majority of Australians live.

He’s got to be kidding. Typical of a useless geek straight out of university in an ultra safe seat. Meanwhile real Australians beyond the borders of the ACT are becoming increasingly resentful at these juvenile antics and just want the Labor/Green BS (and the escalating prices we are paying for electricity and groceries due to this greenie crap) to stop.

He’s got to be kidding. Typical of a useless geek straight out of university in an ultra safe seat. Meanwhile real Australians beyond the borders of the ACT are becoming increasingly resentful at these juvenile antics and just want the Labor/Green BS (and the escalating prices we are paying for electricity and groceries due to this greenie crap) to stop.

What is a real Australian?

It’s alluding to the fact that life in Canberra can be quite dissimilar to how the majority of Australians live.

He’s got to be kidding. Typical of a useless geek straight out of university in an ultra safe seat. Meanwhile real Australians beyond the borders of the ACT are becoming increasingly resentful at these juvenile antics and just want the Labor/Green BS (and the escalating prices we are paying for electricity and groceries due to this greenie crap) to stop.

He’s got to be kidding. Typical of a useless geek straight out of university in an ultra safe seat. Meanwhile real Australians beyond the borders of the ACT are becoming increasingly resentful at these juvenile antics and just want the Labor/Green BS (and the escalating prices we are paying for electricity and groceries due to this greenie crap) to stop.

He’s got to be kidding. Typical of a useless geek straight out of university in an ultra safe seat. Meanwhile real Australians beyond the borders of the ACT are becoming increasingly resentful at these juvenile antics and just want the Labor/Green BS (and the escalating prices we are paying for electricity and groceries due to this greenie crap) to stop.